Readers' teacher memories (seventh
in the series on Blacklick Valley teachers),

My day of rest seems to be have been
appointed as Monday this week, as far as this daily task is concerned.
On Sunday I received an excellent memoir from Mary Ann Losiewicz
sharing some of her teacher memories, a number of which overlapped
with mine, but which also moved the history from Blacklick Township
to Blacklick Valley school district, something that's very interesting
to people like myself who moved away before the merger was accomplished
and know very few details about how it worked. Also, I received
a reply to an inquiry I sent to Woody Gay (Wayne Gay's "big
brother"), who preceded us at Blacklick Township High School
by a couple of years and who, after some cogitation, was able to
come up with a couple of the faculty names that had escaped my memory earlier.
Both of those letters are presented below as the "postcard"
for today. Jon Kennedy

Hi Jon,

Reading all the names in your latest messages
brought back a lot of memories. While I am a few years younger than
you, I see that I have had quite a number of the same teachers, especially
the ones that were part of the combination when Blacklick Township
and Nanty Glo/Vintondale joined. I recall having Mr. Ray Clawson as
the Principal of Big Bend Elementary School, followed by Mr Paul Adams,
who also taught 7th grade there. The earlier teachers I had were probably
not some that a lot of the list remembers, but I do have fond memories
of the majority of them. I also had Mrs. Taylor for music. She was
a wonderful teacher and gave me the love I have today for music. I
think she and Mrs. Bankovich were the two that gave me that love.
I also have many fond memories of my 2nd grade teacher, Miss Josephine
Diamond. I think she was great, and she really did give of herself
for her students. She was a friend of both my Mom and grandmother,
so it was almost as if I grew up with her. My grandmother was also
friends with my 4th grade teacher, Miss Beck. She lived only down
the road from us, and she attended my church, so she was a real influence.

One of the better teachers I had at Big
Bend was Mr. DeYulis. He was a new teacher when I was in 6th grade,
but I think he made learning fun. Plus, he had a no-nonsense attitude
that we all knew and respected, because we saw that he played no favorites.
I had Mr. McCann for 8th grade science, when we went to the "brand
new" Jr/Sr High School. He did impart a love for that subject on those
that tried to understand. While he was a bit difficult for some of
the students to understand, he was good and my class dedicated our
yearbook to him.

As for Mr. Antol, he taught freshman
biology at the high school. I never understood the reasons behind
having to learn types of trees and wildflowers by their leaves or
appearance, but that knowledge came in handy when I took ecology
in college. I was one of the few able to identify certain trees.

I am not sure if it was a good thing
or not for me to have some of the same teachers as my Mother did.
The one that comes to mind the most is Mrs. Blackman. While my Mom
and her sisters all had Mrs. Blackman for Home Economics when they
were in school (and I was even in one of the "style shows" with
my youngest aunt who made the matching outfits), my Mom was not
the best seamstress in the house. Her sisters were much better.
Unfortunately, the same was true for me. And I think Mrs. Blackman
remembered my Mom for this and it fell on me as well. As hard as
I tried, it was never good enough for her. I can sew now, and much
better than I would have thought, but not because of Mrs. Blackman;
more from my own determination to prove her wrong.

Her sister, Mrs. Smith (Dr. William
P. Smith's wife, and the other Dr. Smith's mother) was a wonderful
substitute teacher. I often found it hard to believe the two of
them were related as they were so different. I also liked Mr. Sowalla
for art and for the many hours of elective art I spent there. Almost
every study hall I had, I spent in the art room. I also loved Miss
Ward, even though when we had her in elementary school, she was
very strict. If she saw a love of art in a person, she encouraged
it.

Like you, I could probably go on and
on about so many more teachers, but I think this is enough for now.

Mary Ann Losiewicz

Jon,

I gave you the wrong name for the science
teacher.... I told you that I remembered the name while at the barbershop.
Well, I asked the barber for a pen and paper so I could write it down,
because I knew that I would forget by the time I got home. When writing
you yesterday, I didn't get my note from my jacket (as) I thought
I had remembered, but I was wrong; the teacher's name was not Mr.
Gindlesberger, it was Mr. Miltenberger. He was the teacher '55-'56
school year. Mr. Frank taught '54-'55, and then Mr. McCann.

The coach you were looking for was Mr.
O'Connor, '55-'56 school year. Mr. Fulmer '54-'55 school year, Mr.
O'Connor '55-'56, and then Mr McKivigan. These names are correct.
So now the rest of the story ...is yours.

Woody Gay

Comprehending
Engineers

Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said,
"Where did you get such a great bike?" The second engineer replied,
"Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when
a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the
ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want."

"The second engineer nodded approvingly, "Good choice; the clothes
probably wouldn't have fit."

Comprehending Engineers - Take Two

To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass
is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs
to be.

Sent
by Trudy Myers

Lenten
thought

The natural needs of the individual being, such as nourishment, self-perpetuation
and self-preservation, become an end in themselves: they dominate
man, and end up as "passions," causes of anguish and the utmost pain,
and ultimately the cause of death.... As St. Maximus puts it: it means
an existence which does not come to fruition, which shuts itself off
from the "end" for which it was madelife as love and communion....

The fall arises out of man's free decision to reject personal communion
with God and restrict himself to the autonomy and self-sufficiency
of his own nature... "In the day you eat of the fruit of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall be as gods"
[Gen. 3:5]. This provocation places before man the existential possibility
for nature on its own to determine and exhaust the fact of existence.
This kind of "deification" of human nature goes against its very truth:
it is an "existential life," a fictitious possibility of life. Man's
nature is created and mortal. It partakes in being, in true life,
only to the extent that it transcends itself, as an existential fact
of personal distinctiveness.

Christos Yannaras: The Freedom of Morality

Sent by Thomas Ross Valentine

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